Stratospheric Chemistry & Transport: Current Research & Findings

Stratospheric measurements have observed the propagation of the seasonal variations and the long-term increase of CO2 from the troposphere into the middle and upper stratosphere, providing a tracer to help understand the fate of exhaust emitted by future aircraft operating in the stratosphere. The measurements define the mean age of stratospheric air and the upwelling velocity for air entering the stratosphere in the tropics. Interpretation of the observations indicates that most current models used to simulate environmental effects of stratospheric aircraft underestimate the residence time for the exhaust products by 25-100%.

Exhibition of current research in stratospheric and tropospheric chemistry.

Selected Publications

Boering, K.A., S.C. Wofsy, B.C. Daube, H. R. Schneider, M. Loewenstein, J.R. Podolske, T. J. Conway, "Stratospheric Mean Ages and Transport Rates from Observations of CO2 and N2O", Science, v.274, p.1340, 1996.

Wofsy, S. C., S.-M. Fan, D. R. Blake, J. D. Bradshaw, S. T. Sandholm, H. B. Singh, G. W. Sachse, and R. C. Harriss, "Factors influencing atmospheric composition over subarctic North America during summer", J. Geophys. Res. 99, 1887-1897 (1994).

Fox, L.E., D.R. Worsnop, M.S. Zahniser, and S. C. Wofsy, "Metastable Phases of Stratospheric Aerosols", Science, 267, 351-355 (1994).